Venture (Jordan): Nuclear Giving Way to Renewables Globally – Study

While Jordan is moving forward with its controversial nuclear energy program, a new study said solar energy added 26 percent more electricity to the global grid than nuclear last year.

The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, which is compiled by a team of independent experts including nuclear policy consultant Mycle Schneider, also said wind power outpaced nuclear by five times in power generation.

Schneider said the stark findings of the study should force a rethink among decision makers. “In this crucial year for a global climate change deal, political leaders need to assess their support for technologies such as solar and wind, where costs are falling quickly and deployment rates are escalating, while investing in new nuclear has shown to be slow and increasingly expensive,” he said.

The study said the number of nuclear power plants under construction worldwide fell from 15 in 2010 to only three in 2014. Furthermore, the study said the nuclear giant AREVA was recently downgraded to “junk” by Standard & Poor’s, and some of the world’s largest economies, such as China, Germany, and Japan, are currently generating more electricity from non-hydro renewables than from nuclear power.

Earlier this year, Jordan signed a $10 billion agreement with Russia’s Rosatom to build the Kingdom’s first nuclear power plant, which Jordan sees as a vital step to play in weaning the Kingdom off its overwhelming reliance on expensive oil and gas imports.

According to plans, the first of the two 1,000-megawatt reactors is expected to be up and running by 2022, with the second following one year later.